Science fair showcases innovation and knowledge for a better future

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on March 25, 2025.

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

ANNA SMITH

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

Local Journalism Initiative

The 50th annual Kiwanis Southeast Alberta Regional Science Fair saw near record participation on Saturday, encouraging and inspiring the bright minds of tomorrow.

“We haven’t had this many students for a long time,” said Peter Wallis, chair of the science fair committee with Praxis. “We’re pushing the resources that the college can offer us here, actually, because you can see how much room there is when you want that hall.”

Medicine Hat College’s main entrance and Centennial Hall were lined with projects, from students as young as 10 years old experimenting with light levels and plant growth, to older students studying how the world of medicine might better combat antibiotic resistance.

“My project is the Smart Roof, which is a colour-changing roof that will keep your house cool in the summer and warm in the winter,” said participant Echo Moreton, who was presenting a project for the first time.

She explained that with the use of thermo-chromic paint, she has created roof shingles that would increase the albedo, or light reflection of someone’s house, which would stop heat from the sun from absorbing into the home, keeping it cooler.

Moreton was inspired by colour-changing nail polish, and has been working on her project for roughly a year.

“I found that in the summer, the brown board had a higher temperature than the thermal-chromic board, because the thermal-chromic board turns white when it hits 26 degrees Celsius,” said Moreton. “I think that if we applied this to siding as well, it would really help with not only energy costs, but address some of the climate crisis, as well.”

Moreton created her project as a solo participant, but for some, such as Ross Glen students Brooklyn Aberle and Madison Taylor, science is both a chance to learn more about the world around them, but also to spend time with a friend.

Their project built upon last year’s experiment, as they had been participating in the science fair for three years now, said Taylor.

“Last year, we did a project of what pop was the worst for your teeth. And it turns out it was Coca-Cola,” said Aberle. She went on to explain that this year, they opted to see which toothpaste was the most effective at protecting teeth.

Using eggshells, the closest thing they could use to human teeth, they measured how much the shells had been dissolved after leaving them in jars of soda for several days, and were surprised to see the results.

“When we took them out, we noticed that some of them were darker in colour, and we noticed that some had lost weight,” said Taylor. “So the one that lost our project was the Colgate one, because the Colgate one lost two grams from its original weight. And the one that won was the Crest one, because it stayed the same weight the entire project.”

Wallis said they are grateful for the support of the public to put on the fair, as well as send promising projects to the Canada Wide Science Fair.

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